Tane Mahuta and the Motuti Marae

This morning we got up, packed our bags back on the coach bus, and got back on the road. We went to a Kauri forest to see a huge Kauri tree that is very important to the Moari, the first inhabitants of New Zealand. The Kauri trees are very important to New Zealand and are now protected. The particular tree that we went to see was named Tane Mahuta. A Maori tour guide led us to Tane Mahuta while telling us the story of what the Maori people believed about this tree. Apparently, the earth and they sky were husband and wife and they kept having children, the plants and trees and animals. There were so many children that no one could breathe, so Tane Mahuta grew so large that he could put his feet on the earth and arms to the sky to separate the two and create space for everything to live. Our tour guide told us more about how Kauri trees pollinate and grow, and he performed a sacred song and prayer to Tane Mahuta.

Me in front of Tane Mahuta

After that, we headed to another ferry to get across an estuary to continue north. We had about 45 minutes before we had to board the ferry so Emily, Rina, and I sat by the water and relaxed. Turns out that the ferry left early and the three of us were left behind! Fortunately, the ferry was running faster than the schedule so it came right back to get us and we weren’t at fault for missing it.

After a short bus ride we arrived at the Motuti Marae. A marae is to the Maori like Indian reservations are in the states. We learned a lot about the culture while we were there. When we first arrived, they performed a ceremony welcoming us on to the marae. They sang a song to us and we had to sing a song back to them, so we decided to sing “Hakuna Matata”, which ended up being totally hilarious and the Maori people loved it.

Us in front of the main building at the marae

After we got settled, they took us on a walk up to their church. The chief told us a story about how a bishop from France had brought Catholicism to New Zealand and the Maori people. When he died, this group of Maori people went to France to retrieve his body so they could have him buried in New Zealand where he meant so much to the people there. They actually brought his body back to this very marae and had him put in a casket in their church. We sat through a short ceremony and got to see the casket of the man who meant so much to the religion and spirituality of these people.

We walked back down to the marae and played some ultimate frisbee on the lawn until dinner time. They fed us a nice dinner, then they took us to a mangrove tidal flat behind the marae. We walked along a wooden catwalk through the tidal flat. At the end, a few of us decided to hop down into the mud and play around. Some people tried to race through the mud and ended up covered in it, which was pretty funny to watch. 

After playing in the mud!

We came back to the marae and got cleaned up, then they separated the girls and the boys to teach us some tribal songs and dances. Our group of girls learned a chant in the Maori language, and the boys learned a dance called the Haka, which is used to intimidate enemies in battle. We came back in to the main room and both groups performed. Watching the boys do this dance (shirtless, by the way!) had to be the most hilarious thing I have ever seen! Some of the Maori people voted on who was the best and of course the boys won, but they deserved it. By this time it as getting pretty late, so we packed it in and went to bed. It was almost like a giant sleepover, because they had laid a bunch of matresses on the floor of the main building, which was pretty cool.

Our marae sleeping arrangements- sleepover!